Ok I may not be a 5.13 climber or lead many big wall adventures, but I do call myself a climber. I climb for the pleasure of the sun on my back, the grace in the climb, the victory of the summit and sharing these with my climbing partner. Not a bad way to spend the afternoon.
I lived in Southern California for years. My job didn’t afford me much time off so long trips to Yosemite were not easy to fit in. However with a short 2.5-hour drive east I could be at the bottom of thousands of climbs. Some people call J-tree a “practice” area for real climbs, I call it “perfect” climbing. I can all but guarantee the sun will be shinning, there will be open routes with plenty of challenge and amazing views from the top.
The rock is quartz monzonite; a park ranger told me that it’s part of an underground sea of granite that has pushed its way to the surface. It looks like nothing more then piles and piles of misplaced boulders lost in the desert. Whatever the cause it has made a great surface to climb.
Most of my trips were for the day but a few times I was able to stretch that out into a few days camping in the park. I found Indian Cove very cozy. The campsites are in amongst the boulders. If you get there early you can get a cove all to yourself just one campsite surrounded by boulders on all sides, all with climbs to the top.
A prime example is campsite #1 just in front of Jaime’s Rock with 6 climbs ranging from 5.4 to 5.10b. You can have your morning coffee brewing and get in a few climbs before breakfast. After breakfast head over to Campfire Crags there you will find another 20 or so climbs ranging 5.6 to 5.12a, plenty to stay busy for the afternoon. Mid afternoon I would head back to camp and take my dog for a hike around the park, it has some beautiful views from the ground as well. You can also enjoy the desert wildlife; we often saw coyotte and roadrunners although not in chase. Then back out for a few climbs before dinner. Moosedog tower is fun. My favorite climb in the whole park was “third times a charm” a 5.10b that actually took me three tries to get up. Then end with a fun little rappel of the north side.
If the moon is out you can enjoy some night climbing right at your campsite. Sometimes even the light from the Coleman lantern is enough to see a few handholds. A good dinner and talks of climbs by the campfire and you can crawl off to the tent to start it all over again tomorrow.
My climbing here has been limited to Great Falls with a few trips out to West Virginia, while I enjoy east coast climbing I find myself wishing the sun was a bit stronger on my back. So if you’re headed west, stop by Fairfax so we can talk sun, sand and climbing.
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